martha: well a top female executive at facebook, sheryl sandberg, made big headlines this week saying men are really still ahead in the work force, but she believes women and moms

can do more to change that. then we have got this new poll just to add to the mix about how working moms are doing. they find it more difficult to balance home and family than the dads do. bill: huge challenges out there for them. martha: yes. bill: we'll catch -- and for you. [laughter] have a good day. martha: see you tomorrow, everybody. jon: and right now brand new stories and breaking news. jenna: new concerns about safety in the skies after we're told a rage suspect gets through security screening with a stun gun. this happening as the head of the tsa goes before lawmakers to defend his plan to allow small knives back on planes. more on that in a moment. plus, new trouble for another carnival cruise liner. reports that the carnival dream is turning into a nightmare. the ship apparently stuck in the caribbean right now. the stories we're hearing from passengers that at this time, jon, sound all too familiar. and we're going to talk with senator john mccain moments from now as he marks 40 years

since his release from a vietnamese prison camp. his reflections, his thoughts 40 years later. it's all happening now. ♪ jenna: well, we start off this morning with a big moment for the gop with the stars of the party, whoever they are, the stars of the party gathering together for their first major national gathering conservatives since the president was reelected. hi, everybody, i'm jenna lee. jon: and i'm jon scott. the speaker's list of c pack looking like a who's who of possible presidential contenders. chief political correspondent carl cameron live from the gaylord national resort in maryland. is this what you might call the first cattle call of the republican race 2016, carl? >> reporter: it'll do until the next one comes along, jon. there's an awful lot of press here, and they're talking about somewhere in the neighborhood of

2-3,000 people to gather and talk about conservative issues and to look at these 2016 candidate, and there are a bun of of them -- bunch of them who are staying they will think about it and they are pretty good names including jeb bush, marco rubio, the u.s. senator from florida who is deep involved with immigration reform right now. rand paul, the senator from kentucky who lit up the country with his filibuster the other day, and there's a host of others that will be speaking throughout the course of the weekend, essentially talking about the future of the party. not necessarily their own presidential aspirations, but where they would take the party in the country. and that'll give some idea as to what these conservatives think about what republicans need to do to be more effective in the next election. there's a lot of issues whether it's immigration or others. conservatives are worried that the rush to attract immigrants and women and others might mean that republicans are willing to sacrifice their principles, and they're talking about how they won't do that, and they can still broaden the party. jon? jon: but a couple of high profile republicans got snubbed

at this conference. tell us who they are and why. >> reporter: well, we're talking about new jersey governor chris christie and virginia governor bob mcdonnell. in the case of mr. christie, he has been, essentially, punished for having cozied up to the president when mr. obama came up to new jersey during superstorm sandy, and particularly for the expansion of medicaid in the state of new jersey. conservatives here have decided that's a little off key n. the case of virginia governor bob mcdonnell, the discussion is more about his decision to raise taxes in virginia in order to deal with transportation problems. it's also worth noting that people are noting the absence of those two, and the presence of people like mitt romney who has said he's never going to run again, and a lot of republicans think he has admitted ran a campaign with some flaws along the donald trump and sarah palin raises questions about the absence of mcdonnell and chris christie. there will be a straw poll here. it doesn't mean a heck of a lot other than republicans are already keeping score. and one more thing, jon.

yesterday when we were talking about deliberate irs taxes, i said one in ten were delinquent, it's actually one in a hundred. i don't want the irs angry at me. so made a mistake and cleaned it up. jon: all right. one in one hundred, and as you said, we'll see who shows up to the next cattle call for conservatives. carl cameron, thank you. jenna: well, an outpouring of reaction to the newly-elected leader of the catholic church. pope francis planning an inaugural mass in the sistine chapel. he told a crowd of some 100,000 people in st. peter's square that he would pray to mary that she would watch over all of rome, that was one of the things he said. he also asked for prayers for him as well. pope francis, who is argentinean, is the first noneuropean in more than a thousand years to be pope, he's also a first jesuit pope. the former ambassador to the vatican, the former mayor of

boston also met pope francis last year. ambassador, nice to have you with us today. >> hi, jenna. nice to be with you. thank you. jenna: pope francis remains a mystery to so many of us. a new name for many as well. just tell us a little bit about meeting him and your impressions. >> well, i'm familiar with his background, of course, jesuit, also somebody who's been committed to the fundamental issues of social justice of the catholic church which is refreshing, which is nice to see. but i think even though he's 76 years of age, jenna, i think he adds a new dimension. the dimension is he's an outsider, and if the issue is reform and change and challenges facing the church and society today, then i think he really, you really need an outsider to deal with those kind of issues. not somebody who's inside trying to defend the status quo. so i welcome francis, pope

francis to come in and make those changes. not theological changes, not those kind of changes on the issues of traditional issues, but around the issues of inclusion, transparency and openness. jenna: so let's dig a little deeper into that because one with of the most remarkable things about today is today there is a clean slate, right? at any moment we'll get an idea where the priority is of this pope. where do you think the priority should be of all the different matters that lie ahead of him, where do you think his focus needs to be? >> well, i think the intent of the internal challenges and bureaucratic snafus inside the vatican itself, this, the leaks and so forth, controlling, controlling that. i think that's really harmful to the catholic church. and i think people across the country in the little bit of period of time i've already been following this announcement, i think people are starting to see

a sense of hope, a new day for the catholic church. i know it's hard for people to comprehend that because he's an older man, but by the same token, you know, he brings a fresh perspective about the issues facing the catholic church today. and he's got this record jesuit, social and economic justice. i was particularly pleased that he took as his name francis because francis, of course, to me, is the symbol of concern for the poor, concern for the downtrodden, all those issues that the catholic church has always been the leader in the world in fighting for those people without a voice. jenna: one of the things you've also said is that his selection is not only a great tribute to him, but a great tribute to america and our cardinals. why do you feel that way? >> well, i'll tell you what, i wrote a book several years ago, it was called "the accidental pope," and i predicted that

there would be an american pope. i actually could have added latin american, and i would have been 100% accurate. but i think it's really time to reward faithful people from the latin american, central american community for their devoted service to the catholic church over the years and also a recognition of two great cardinals here in america, cardinal sean o'malley of boston and cardinal timothy dolan. i mean, they brought great pride and enthusiasm throughout the world to their, to their -- to the people, the cities that they represent; boston, new york, the united states. so americans have every right to be proud of both cardinals dolan and o'malley. and as we are proud of them. jenna: i'm sure. especially from the state of massachusetts. really quick here, ambassador flynn, since you met pope francis last year, if you had the opportunity to see him again today, what would you say to him? >> well, i'd say make sure you

understand that there are a lot of great american catholics here that are faithful, that are devoted, and don't believe everything you read in the newspaper because, you know, we are a church that is moving forward. we want to be part of something very important. we are faithful, we are loyal, and i hope he understands that. i'm sure that he will hear that, that america's best days are yet to come. jenna: ambassador flynn, great to have your perspective today. thank you so much for the time. >> sure. jon: just in, a published report suggests big brother might soon get the green light to look at your bank account. reuters is reporting the obama administration is planning, is drawing up plans to give intelligence agencies full access to a massive database that contains financial info on american citizens and others who bank inside the u.s. the plan is part of an effort to track terror networks and

organized crime but is raising all kinds of privacy concerns. chief washington correspondent james rosen live in our d.c. bureau. now, where does this new plan originate, james, and exactly how would it work? >> reporter: jon, good morning. the secret document that lays out this new plan obtained by reuters is a project of the treasury department's financial crimes enforcement network. under existing law banks and other financial institutions are required to file reports anytime they red flag suspicious activity such as the movement of more than $10,000 in a single transaction, unusual structuring of accounts and so forth. the fbi enjoys full access to these report, but the nation's intelligence agencies must make case-by-case requests for them. this new document proposes the database be linked directly to the nation's intention agencies. for these reports to be of value in detecting money laundering,

reuters quotes the treasury document as saying. >> reporter: when the director of national intelligence, general james clapper, testified before congress on tuesday, he said money laundering measures more than a trillion dollars a year, and he lamented deficiencies in our ability to track it all saying inadequate anti-money laundering regulations and lax enforcement of existing ones are challenging international law enforcement efforts. and general clapper, it'ses also worth noting, put financial crimes right alongside cyber warfare as, quote, weapons that are being used against us, jon. jon: so this plan might do what it is intended to do to give federal agents a leg up on terrorists and the like, but the big question remains, is it still legal? >> reporter: legal experts quoted by reuters suggested that it is. the patriot act b and other counterterrorism laws effectively mandate institutions keep tabs on so-called suspicious activity.

the american civil liberties union tells fox news it hasn't yet seen this treasury document, but such reports of activity filed have more than quadrupled since 2002 to more than 1.5 million such reports in 2011. jon? jon: james rosen, interesting. thank you. >> reporter: thank you. jenna: well, making news today, a massive car recall. what honda says is wrong with thousands of its vehicles and which ones are included in the recall. and today senator john mccain is marking 40 years since his release from a prison camp in vietnam. his reflections live when we speak with the senator about all of this next. ♪ [ female announcer ] from meeting customer needs... to meeting patient needs... ♪ wireless is limitless. [ female announcer ] from finding the best way... ♪

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jenna: forty years ago today, a painful chapter in senator mccain's life came to an end. he and more than 100 other americans were released from a prison camp in vietnam. senator mccain marking this occasion with an op-ed today in

"the wall street journal" talking a little bit about what he went through. he also describes how former enemies became friends in the four decades since he regained his freedom. senator john mccain joins us live from capitol hill. senator, nice to have you on the program today. >> thank you. jenna: so take us back to that day, march 14, 40 years ago. what happened? >> well, we put on some clothes that the vietnamese had thoughtfully provided us with instead of the prison outfit that we'd been wearing all those years, and we got on a bus and went to the airport there, the major airport. and they read our names off, and we went and got on a wonderful, beautiful airplane and flew and landed in the fill peeps to start with so -- philippines to get checked out for a couple days. and i still remember when the pilot came over the intercom and said feet wet which means we were over the ocean and not over

vietnamese territory, we all gave a pretty loud cheer and, actually, we were surprised that so many things had changed while we were gone. but also those that i still know best and love most are those i had the honor of serving with who inspired me and made me a much better and stronger perp. person. jenna: we're seeing some incredible footage that we have of that day. what's the first thing that you did when you got back to friendly territory? >> you know, jenna, it's interesting, you think, obviously, we were interested in a good meal, but i was so interested in what had happened in america and the world in those five and a half years because we'd only been fed selective information such as they never told us about the moon landing until we happened to find out by accident. so i was intensely curious, and they had lots of back issues of magazines and newspapers, and i

read until my eyes hurt, to tell you the truth. but that was the major thing that i was interested in. jenna: today is a special day because it is 40 years since the day of your release. but how often do you think about your time in the prison camp? >> well, not really very much at all. except that i hear from my old p.o.w. buddies all the time who give me my instructions and their advice and counsel. i hear from them regularly, and usually, it's usually not approval. [laughter] john, why didn't you -- why can't you? [laughter] you know? but i love them all, and i'm so grateful for their friendship and love. jenna: that must be some incredible friendship -- >> absolutely. jenna: -- being what you went through. you know, it was interesting to read your article in the "wall street journal" today and come away with it with some major themes. one is that you can forgive but not messily forget. and the other is that you don't want to bind yourself so closely with the past that you can't forge forward. and it's an interesting metaphor

for leadership today, especially in congress. you know, the president is coming to capitol hill to meet with republicans like yourself. but the past four years have been so vitriolic and so difficult to watch, i'm curious looking back at what you've been through in your life, senator, how do we find our way out of where we are right now? >> well, i think that the president's outreach can be, and i emphasize can be, a beginning. and that means coming to the table and putting things on the table. because we really are on an unsustainable path as far as our debt and deficit is concerned. and many of the programs that may have worked years ago are to be revised and brought up-to-date. for example, when social security came in, the average age, i think, was like 65. now, thank god, we live a lot longer. we have to adjust those programs. but there has to be an attitude that we're willing to make some

concessions. and my model, of course, was ronald reagan and tip o'neill who were idealogically poles apart yet were able to maintain a dialogue and come to agreements on a variety of issues. also some of us would like to get a little higher approval rating -- [laughter] than 11%. we're down to, as i often say, we're down to paid staffers and blood relatives. jenna: as journalist, senator, it's something that we share in wanting higher approval ratings. just really quick, if i could, just to get, drill just a little bit into what's happening today. you know, the president just said in an interview that we don't have an immediate crisis in terms of debt, and that seems diametrically opposed to what republicans say. so how, how do you, again, forge ahead on that path? where do you find the common ground? >> i think you find the common ground, there are some areas which, for example, the

so-called chain cpi that determines the increase in cost of living allowance which is more realistic to the expenses that our seniors really do face. there are certain small concessions that can be, that can lead to large concessions. i don't know what the setting was, but most americans do not believe that we are on a sustainable path. we cannot continue this debt piling up on our children and our grandchildren. $51,000 for every man, woman and child in america with no end in sight. there's got to be some kind of agreement to stop this, and it's going to inflict some pain on every one of us. maybe even on congressional pay. jenna: sure. well -- and we'll see if that works. senator, today we honor you, 40 years since the day of your release and your service of to this country and your friends who, hopefully, are watching. and to those families who had loved ones that weren't able to

come home, we think about them today as well. senator, thank you for the time. >> thank you, jenna. thank you. jenna: it's a real pleasure. thank you. jon: well, the head of the transportation security administration on the hot seat today. why he wants more knives on planes. together, and these come together, one thing you can depend on is that these will come together. delicious and wholesome. some combinations were just meant to be. tomato soup from campbell's. it's amazing what soup can do.

jenna: well, right now a price is right beauty is gearing up for round two in a pregnancy discrimination lawsuit after a judge overturns her multimillion dollar award. rick folbaum has the details for us now. >> reporter: the judge says that he made a mistake. he didn't give the jury the right instructions, and that because of that the case has to be retried. this is a civil suit that involves brandy cochran who claimed that she was fired from the show after the game show's producers found out she was pregnant. last year a split jury awarded

cochran $8.5 million in damages agreeing with the argument that she had been discriminated against, but the judge now says that according to the california state supreme court he should have told the jury to decide if pregnancy discrimination was a, quote, substantial factor in the show deciding to let cochran go. he apparently didn't do that the first time around. the model's lawyers, though, are pretty happy with this decision. they actually think it'll result in an even bigger payday, maybe double or triple the $8.5 million the first time. no comment from the company that produces the show. the new trial, jenna, could start later on this year. back to you. jenna: rick, thank you. jon: tsa administrator john pistole is heading to capitol hill today. he is set to testify before the house homeland security committee on his decision to allow some small knives back onto airplanes. pistole already says he is not backing down after some airlines and groups representing pilots and flight attenp cants

criticized that move. we get record of a troubling incident at jfk airport, a rape suspect was arrested after getting past security while carrying a banned stun gun. tom blank is former deputy director of the transportation security administration, he is now executive vice president of gephardt government affairs and joins us now. so give us the explanation as to why all of a sudden the tsa has decided that letting some small knives back onto airplanes as well as things like, you know, baseball bats and so forth is a good idea. >> well, i'm not sure it is a good idea, and i think it should be reevaluated. jon: right. i'm just trying to get your explanation of why they say it's a good idea. >> they have done a risk analysis, they -- it's part of their risk-based security program, and they believe that they want the tsa officers' focus on bomb devices and explosives rather than on things that cannot do catastrophic damage to an airplane.

jon: well, if they are, you know, focused on bomb devices and that kind of thing, i mean, the story about what happened at jfk airport is a pretty good indicator, they missed a stun gun. >> well, they missed a stun gun, but i think that has to be put in the context that is screening about two million passengers every day, and they're not going to get it right every single time even though they, even though they try to. so while that stun gun shouldn't have gotten through, i think that has to be weighed against the fact that millions of other prohibited items -- and guns themselves -- are actually confiscated by the tsa. jon: we know that on 9/11 a bunch of guys armed with nothing more than box cutters, you know, essentially brought down airliners and used them as, well, some of the worst weapons of mass destruction this country has ever seen. um, it just seems like no matter how long the blade, you can still do an awful lot of damage with a knife. >> well, that's true.

but i think the overriding point is this: that tsa must have partnerships with the others that operate in the aviation domain in order to be effective. and why i say they need to reevaluate this decision is when you have flight attendants, spokesmen for the federal air marshals, airlines, the general public really questioning whether the risks have been evaluated properly, it only makes sense to go back and review and see whether or not you got this decision right in the first place. jon: one of the justifications is that foreign-based carriers allow some of these items on planes, and, therefore, in order to meld the systems, we need to accommodate them. >> well, why don't we try to meld the systems upward instead of melding the systems downward. when -- we're the ones that were the victims of 9/11. of tsa was created in the aftermath of 9/11 to set the gold standard for aviation security around the world. so i would argue that maybe those foreign-based carriers

should be increasing their standards rather than having us lower their standards, and i wouldn't necessarily agree that we have to mesh standards. jon: yeah. tom blank, i'm sorry, now with gephardt government affairs, formerly with the tsa, some good points there. thank you. >> thank you. jenna: well, there will be some big names on the ballot when south carolina voters head to the polls just days from now. it's a primary election for the house seat held by tom scott's appointment to fill a vacancy in the senate. tim scott, pardon me. we're going to take a closer look at who's running for this particular house seat and how it may impact congress. also, the president meeting with senate republicans in just about an hour from now after making remarks about the debt crisis that many on the other side simply don't agree with. we'll take a closer look ahead. [ lorenzo ] i'm lorenzo.

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jenna: welcome back to "happening now." a wide variety of candidates getting ready to face off to fill an empty congressional seat. they want tim scott's old job. his house seat was left vacant when he was appointed to the senate. former south carolina governor mark sanford is vying for the spot. let's start there. mark sanford, political come back, is it in the cards? >> reporter: in fact he is the apparent frontrunner in a 16-way race for the republican nomination, this less than four

years after his highly public apology as governor for temporarily disappearing from the state to take a secret trip to argentina to visit his mistress, the revelation of the affair ended his marriage, many thought it would end his political career. the former governor and congressman is running for the old house seat he held from 95 through 2001 saying he learned not only from his experience in the say the house and on capitol hill but through his personal scandal. >> to go through the experiences i went through it hum -bls you. if it's anything that is needed in washington d.c. it's a greater level of humility from either party's perspective in where they are coming from. >> reporter: while sanford a former fox news contributor is running on his own experience a political newcomer with a well-known name is running on strong anti-washington sentiment in the district. economics teacher teddy teurpb is the son of billionaire media

mogul ted teurpb. his father's resources have brought him amazing life experiences but the republican candidate is trying to distance himself from his father's liberal politics, convenient a. jenna: that is an interesting republican ticket so far. what about the democrats? it's a heavily republican district. what kind of opposition are those candidates facing? >> reporter: well in fact the democratic frontrunner also had big name recognition in the district and nationwide for that matter. elizabeth colbert bush is the sister of steven c orbgt colbert who is lending his star power to her campaign. they say any democrat faces an uphill battle in this district which in 2012 voted for mitt romney over president obama by a margin of 60-40. listen. >> they aren't your typical south carolina republicans. there are a lot of yankee republicans in this district who are more concerned with fiscal issues than social issues.

>> reporter: but working in the maritime cargo industry and serving with several economic development associations colbert bush has won the respect of the low country business community and she only has one democrat opponent, perennial candidate ben frazier so that really gives her an advantage over the republicans who with 16 candidates are likely going to have to face a runoff on april 2nd. jenna. jenna: a sleepy little house race it isn't. that's for sure johnathon. interesting dynamics in play, thank you. jon: new information today on the white house's charm offensive as the president gets ready to meet with senate republicans. this after he met with g.o.p. members on the house side and seemed to downplay our nation's debt crisis, the president telling abc news in an interview that there is no immediate debt crisis and for the next ten years it will be in a sustainable place. joining us joe trippi former

campaign manager for howard dean and a fox news contributor as well. joe, no debt crisis the president says? how can he explain that? >> well, i think what he's saying is, look, bowles-simpson recommended $4 trillion be either in revenue or spending cuts to avert a future debt crisis in the united states. if sequestration stays in place we are already 3.5 trillion of the way there. now we might not agree on how congress and the president got us here, but that's where we are at. i think the president was saying, look, we are not in a place where if we don't have a vote tomorrow on this we'll have automatic cuts come into play. we are in a place where we don't have to go to our two corners and come out fighting. we are most of the way there. we can take time and come to agreement between the two parties on how we get the rest of the way there. i think -- i think that's what part of this so-called charm

offensive is about, let's try to come to agreement on how we get there and not come out swinging from the fences on both parties' plans to get there. jon: let me show you some statistics and these come from places like the congressional budget office, and the federal treasury and so forth. under president obama our nation's debt has increased by $6 trillion. the increase in interest payments -- or the interest payment i should say on total debt more than a third of a trillion. $360billion in 2012. and 36% of your national debt has accumulated under this president. that doesn't sound like no immediate crisis to me, joe. >> look, all those numbers are accurate, but the reason they are accurate is -- we've got two crisises going on. one we are in a job crisis, a slow economy, and how do you address that, austerity and

cuts, spending cuts, and raising taxes, and the republicans are right about that raising taxes slows the economy, cutting spending close the economy. we are trying to deal with both of those crisis at the same time. we've got to 3.5 trillion in revenue increases and spending cuts while the economy has continued to sort of grind slowly. i think what we're looking at now, what we're hoping i think, everybody hopes both side can come together on it, again, how do we get to the 4 trillion that bowles-simpson recommended without killing the economy? and i think that's why you get both these sets of facts that are true. both side are actually right about this. now the question is -- and we've avoided killing the economy by trying to address it. jon: everybody a grows that the long-term driver of the problem are the programs like medicaid, social security. so this president doesn't have to run again. why not do something bold and

tell americans, you know, if you're under 50 years old we are going to change the system, everybody is living longer, everybody is collecting bigger benefits, we cannot continue with the system hike this. the president has the power to do that, and the capitol. >> paul ryan says that after the meeting that the president did himself some good. we don't know what got said that did him some good here, but i suspect what is hopefully going to happen -- i mean from both side is we'll get some of the revenue, increased revenue in shutting down loopholes and corporate tax breaks that the president and democrats in the senate want, and i think as a compromise you're going to see some changes in those programs, whether democrats on the left like it or not or republicans on the right that don't want any taxes like it or not, there is going to have to be a compromise here to get to that 4 trillion. that's what this charm offensive and all these meetings is really

about, jon. jon: joe trippi we will continue to watch it as the charm offensive and the negotiating goes on. thank you for your insight. >> thanks, jon. jenna: just a month after a power failure stranded that cruise liner at sea some new troubles today aboard another carnival ship. what passengers are telling us, we are live at the breaking news desk next.

jenna: breaking news out of eastern ohio today, it's day two in a rape trial that is really getting world-wide attention. a pair of high school football players accused of raping a girl at an alcohol-fueled party. prosecutors argue that the victim was so intoxicated that she could not in anyway have given consent. well attorneys for the defendant say the victim knew what she was doing. mike tobin is live outside jefferson county juvenile court in steubenville, ohio. catch us up, mike, what is the latest. >> reporter: day two in this

case so far, jenna, and the state has yet to present any evidence that the two football players penetrated that drunk 16-year-old girl. now the emotion, the outrage in this case is driven by a lot of offensive internet pose inks not the leaves of which is the photograph of the two defendants carrying the drunk girl around. what added fuel to the fire is the dunk rambling of a teenager who delighted in the humiliation of the victim. he described a gang rape. that kid fueled a lot of the outrage. the problem is he was never a kit and a lot of his information was bad. so the defense says the state is never going to be able to prove rape when their case is hanging on the testimony of drunk teenagers. >> our client trenton maze did not rape this young lady in question. it's the state's burden to prove to show that he did. if today was any sort of indication as to how their entire case is going to be laid out they have an uphill battle. >> reporter: there is no question that that drunk girl

was humiliated to the amusement of the teenage partygoers, many of them connected to the football team. to quote the pegs prosecutor, they used her like a toy. but to prove rape in this case they have to prove that the two football players penetrated that girl with their hands and she was too drunk to consent or say no, that meets the standard for rape in ohio. jenna. jenna: mike tobin live in ohio, thank you. jon: a month after an engine fire crippled a carnival cruise liner in the tkpwufpl of mexico for five days there are new concerns for cruise passengers. the carnival "dream" we're told is stuck in port in the caribbean. and we are getting reports this trip is quickly turning into a nightmare. we'll update you. plus, what doctors are learning about the risks for heart disease by examining ancient mummies.

jon: right now here we go again, new troubles on a carnival cruise liner a month after one of the lines' other ships was stranded in the gulf of mexico for days with no power or working plumbing. rick folbaum has the latest from the newsroom. >> reporter: this is not what carnival nor the passengers needed, not by any stretch. a bunch of people traveling on the carnival "dream" calling media outlets to say ha there were power and toilet problems on board their ship. passengers reported human waste on the floor. elevators that weren't working properly, saying the cruise director giving out only limited information about what was actually going on. we reached out to carnival. this is the statement they sent us. the carnival "dream" has a technical issue which our engineering team is currently working on. at no time did the ship lose power there were periodic interruptions to elevators and toilets for a few hours last night.

at this time all hotel systems are functioning normally and have been functional since approximately 12:30am. we have not been able to confirm this. this comes on the heels of major problems with a different carnival ship last month when a fire in the engine ruined sraeu sayings for 4200 people. there is a class action lawsuit filed in that case. we don't know how many people are on board this particular ship. carnival says it is now docked in the caribbean island of st. maarten while the issues are sorted out. we will keep everyone posted. jon: thank you. jenna: the doctor is in and that heart beating is a good precursor to the segment we'll be talking about today. there are new concerns about a common breast cancer treatment, a new study is linking radiation therapy and heart disease, raises some questions about whether the benefits of radiation outweigh the risks. join us is dr. kevin campbell a practicing cardiologist,

assistant professor of medicine at the university of north carolina. now that the chest cavity is in focus, obviously, what about the risk to the heart. >> what we know is when you receive radiation to the chest, particularly on the left side of the chest that it does increase our risk for developing coronary artery disease or blockages in the heart. we also know that it significantly improves survival rates in breast cancer and some very important treatment. jenna: in your professional opinion the results of this study will it deter radiation treatment or therapy being used in the way it is used now, will it change it in anyway, should it? >> i think this study was published yesterday in the new england journal of medicine and it showed that baseline risk in a woman with no risk factors for cardiac disease is 1%. if you receive radiation it's only 2 to 3%. so the increase risk for cardiovascular disease does not

outweigh the benefit of the radiation. jenna: as a cardiologist, someone a radiation do you approach them differently than somebody who hasn't, or is it the same routine regardless of whether they had radiation in the area. >> all of us have to be very careful in these patients. we have to be aggressive with smoking cessation, with controlling cholesterol and other risk factors in these women so we bring their risk back to baseline. jenna: we hear a lot of news about heart disease, one of the big stud tees we were talking about earlier this week is about these mummies. scientists look a look at some mummies, 4,000 years old and found heart disease in the mummies, and some were asking the question about whether or not that means anything we do, which includes radiation, or going to eat fast food or getting the cheese out of the pump at the local 711 affects your propensity towards heart disease if ancient people had the same problem.

what do you think about that? >> that with us a very interesting study th-pb and i think it changes the way we think about cardiac disease in a way. they took ancient civilizations all over the world, four different civilizations, 4,000 years ago, from pa raourbgs the americas, as well as egypt and they found that 35% of these people had blockages in the heart. that tells me that we have genetic predisposition for heart disease, but we can modify that with risk factor modification. jenna: i ask about that too because it makes you think, maybe your fate is sealed with either having heart disease or not based on your genetics and having nothing to do with exercise or what you eat, because these folks were really pretty healthy in the past. what do you think about that when it comes to heart disease is our fate sealed in some case stphes. >> not necessarily. i think if you look at these civilizations there were things that put them at risk. for instance they cooked over smoking fires a great deal, and smoke inhalation could play a role. they didn't have antibiotics to

treat infection and disease they lived in a state of chronic inflammation, and we know that inflammation is associated with blockages in the heart. i think that it just shows that we do have genetic predispositions, we still need to hit the jim, eat right and not smoke. jenna: i wanted to get off the hook for some of that not today. even though the mummys had heart disease and they saw evidence of it it didn't mean that they dived it. that was an interesting discrepancy. thank you for coming on the set. we appreciate your time. jon: and they didn't have lipitor either. some of the biggest names in conservative politics holding their first major meeting twins the 2012 elections. marco rubio, rand paul, rick perry, just some of the speakers at this year's cpac event, but who is not there? we'll update you. also jodi arias is off the stand. she just wrapped up 18 days of testimony in her murder trial. so what is next for both sides in this case? [ lisa ] my name's lisa, and chantix helped me quit.

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jon: looking and listening live inside the sistine chapel in vatican city. the newly elected pontiff, pope frances has not even been pope for 24 hours yet. he is celebrating his first mass in the sistine chapel as leader of the world's 1.2 billion catholics. he is being joined as you can see there by the cardinals who elected him last night. we will keep you updated, bring you all of the latest details out of the vatican and talk to an expert on the biggest challenges that pope frances faces now. >> reporter: a new hour and brand-new stories as we come from you live from the "happening now" control room. yesterday it was house republicans. today president obama meets with g.o.p. senators. the fac face-to-face meetings were nice gesture but will they lead to any real progress on solving the major problems that

we face? we'll explore that. a live picture of republicans gathering at the cpac convention. it's a whose who but who was left off the list continues to pwheubg headlines. we'll have that for you. and after six weeks on the witness stand jodi arias' testimony finally done. did she say enough to convince the jury to spare her the death penalty in the gruesome murder of her ex-boyfriend. all of that and breaking news as the second hour of "happening now" starts right now. jon: we begin this hour with news about the president's so-called charm offensive. it is on for yet another day. i'm jon scott. jenna: hey, everybody, i'm jenna lee. in about 45 minutes the president will meet with senate republicans on capitol hill. this is all part of a new push to make a deal to cut the deficit. this comes just one day after some republicans took to the floor forcing a vote to defund obama care as it's been referred

to. the measure didn't pass but it marks the 35th time congressional republicans have tried to kill funding for the president's signature legislation, the new healthcare law. mike emanuel joins us live from capitol hill. that is an interesting scene right before the president is about to arrive on the capitol, mike, what are republicans saying about the democrats in the senate, the budget plan that exists there? >> reporter: well, jenna first about the president, they seem to welcome the president's outreach. it's unclear, though will it will produce results on the budget issue. a lot of senate republicans have been going through patti murray's budget blueprint line-by-line and are essentially saying they are disappointed in spending, it increases spending over current levels, does not address entitlements like medicare and senator republican leader mitch mcconnell says there is false advertising on taxes. >> any senator who votes for that budget is voting for $1.5 trillion tax hike, the

largest tax hike in american history. so the senate democrat budget is more than just disappointing, it's extreme. extreme. it's really one of the most extreme, most left-wing budgets of the modern era. >> reporter: clearly he does not like it. to pass that budget in the united states senate they will need 51 votes. there are more than enough democrats. but for democrats up for re-election in 2014, voting for a huge tax hike will be tough. jenna: mike, so obviously senator reid is very clear about how he feels. what are democrats saying about balancing the budget. >> reporter: it's interesting because paul ryan presented his budget plan earlier this week. he says it would balance within a decade, but today the house democratic leader nancy pelosi she didn't sound like she was in a rush for balance. >> i count me as one who would say i want us to be on a path to balance the budget in a number of decade. you can't do it in one decade.

not after what we have been through. >> reporter: with all the news coming from the vatican house speaker john boehner was invited to join vice president joe biden as part of the u.s. delegation to go to the papal invest ta tour. boehner said he was honored by the invitation but said with work on the budget that due to his duties he was unable to attend. he wishes the vice president the very best with his travels, jon. jenna: mike emanuel live at the capitol, thank you. >> reporter: thank you. jon: continuing to talk politics right now conservatives are gathering for their first big meeting since the 2012 presidential election. here is a live look at what is going on at the conservative political action conference underway near washington. slated to speak, florida senator marco rubio. kentucky senator rand paul. and texas governor rick perry. absent from the schedule though are two of the party's biggest names, new jersey governor chris christie, and virginia governor

bob mcdonnell. bob cusack is managin managing editor of "the hill" and can bring us inside information about what is going on here. people might want to know who chooses who gets to speak at this event, bob? >> the conservative leaders who head cpac, certainly chris christie did not inch dear himself to a lot on the right especially down the stretch of the 2012 presidential campaign when he was working with president obama. but still, i mean chris christie is very popular, and he's got to worry about his re-election, it looks like he's going to be easily reelected in new jersey, and then he'll probably have that discussion about 2016. but the interesting thing about this conference, republicans really need to pick up the pieces. last november was a disaster for them and this is part of the healing process, because right now republicans need to start thinking about how they are going to beat hillary clinton in 2016. jon: you think hillary clinton will be the nominee on the democratic side. >> i think if you pick one you have to pick hillary clinton.

her health will be a concern but if she us healthy and with her approval numbers i definitely think hillary clinton will be running. the thing is with republicans, there is good news, it's very difficult to win three presidential elections in a row. at the same time the republican party, the polls are not good. they do have a deep bench. marco rubio list speak being as you mention and rand paul. the bench in 2012 was a bit thin. >> one of the topics they are scheduled to discuss at this meeting is how do we make the republican party and i'm paraphrasing the title of the session, how do they make the republican party more favorable or attractive to hispanic and minority voters. >> yeah, that is a big concern. they have to do better among minorities, definitely among hispanics, as well as african-americans. the conundrums for republicans is that obama care is more popular among blacks and hispanics as it is among

whites. obviously they are pushing for repeal. whether it's policies, i mean i think they have to find someone who is likable, who is a strong leader, and that is the key. obviously there are people on the republican side that poke fun at themselves, we saw marco rubio and the whole water thing, but he was able to deal witness and kind of make light of himself. we really didn't see mitt romney do any kind of selfdeprecating jokes down on the campaign trail. people need to say, oh that person understands me, and i like that guy. jon: real quickly on the president's charm offensive, senator john mccain was asked this morning whether the charm offensive is going well or whether it is an outreach, and paraphrasing the senator he said he hasn't reached out to us at all up until now. what do you think are the chances for something good coming of all this? >> you know, i think the chances are decent. they are certainly better than they were in the first interpreter. if you talk to democrats on capitol hill in the first term

they were privately very frustrated with president obama. he didn't reach out to them. and so now he's doing both on the house and the senate, democrats and republicans, but they still have major policy differences. this is the beginning of a process, we have a major debt problem, and the president knows it, and he's going to -- he wants congress to raise the debt limit, he's going to have to get deals over the next several months or we'll have another showdown come summertime. jon: the president says we don't have an immediate debt crisis. again that is discussion for another day. bob cusack from "the hill." jenna: we will take you back to rome now. pope frances is celebrating mass with his cardinals in the sistine chapel right now, first mass as pope. pope frances making history in vatican city last night becoming the first latin-american pope e. was tkpwoerpb in argentina, the first jesuit pope, we'll get into what that means in a moment he was born to italian immigrant parents. but he comes into the pay pays see facing several chances

outside of italy, like leading the church out of the sex-abuse scandal, ang along with other faiths, there is also the question of what is the role of women in the future of this church? robert phoeupb and is the editor and founder of inside the vatican magazine. has been very generous of his time with us and others over the last several days. great to have you back on the program. thank you. >> thank you. jenna: it's a clean khraeu slate today. the pope can choose anything that he wants to launch into as his first priority for the church. where do you think he's going to begin, and why should he begin there? >> well the first thing i want to say is that it's clear here in rome we can see the mountains around the city, it's an amazing change from yesterday where it was drizzly all day. so we've got clarity. what we have clarity about is the name of this pope. francis. there is no other pope by this name. f francis of assisi was a little

poor man and he became the greatest pope. he has a connection with pope benedict. he did his dissertation on saint bonaventure. ben addict and francis the two hopes have a connection in the sense in their spirituality. the next thing to be said, the nature of the man. he's a jesuit. there never has been a jesuit pope. the jesuit leader is called the black pope. there's never been a time in history where the white pope and the black pope were the same man, the white pope and the back pope. the jesuits are in a sense the marine corps of the church or even the navy seals of the church. they study for ten years, 12 years, 15 years, you can't become a jesuit until after 15

years. you are invited to make preliminary years and make later vows after 15 years. this man is well formed, he's a person -- jenna: as someone with a jesuit background what does he bring potentially to the position that would be different from someone from other denominations. >> strength. he knows what he wants to do and i think he's going to be a little bit unpredictable. i think the things he did this morning already showed two elements of his spirituality that everyone has noticed but no one has really understood. the first thing he did was the virgin mary. mary and spirituality. this talks about respect for women, this talks about respect for family. it talks about respect for the entire spirituality of latin america, which is so mary and focused on our lady of guadeloupe. he went to the largest marion church of the world, he went in

a black limousine very simply, and knelt down and prayed before an icon believed to be painted by st. luke himself. st. luke the physician who wrote the gospel of hraoupbg was supposed to be a painter. i don't know if it was painted by him. it is one of the oldest icons in the world. the first thing he did as pope was go there, pray before that icon, madonna and child. jenna: what do you think that means as far as how he's setting the priority for this church? we know what the pope does not only impacts the church but can have a ripple affect really all around the world. where do you think he's going to start as he takes a look at his job and the job that lace befo lays before him? >> the little people. he's taken everything down. no pomp and circumstance, no special row, he came out in a simple white robe. it's a time of simplicity and it's a time of the family, it's a time of mothers and fathers and children. it's a time when he wants

economic justice. he doesn't want oppression. this man is going to be a powerful voice for the poor. jenna: robert thank you again for your time. it gives us a lot to think about whether ear catholic or noncatholic as we take in this amazing historical event. thank you again. >> thank you. jon: it is a major selling point for enlistment, a popular program that helps members of the military go to college. so why is it in jeopardy right now? we have a live report on that. plus, talk about bad timing, what is to blame for hundreds of thousands of people having to wait weeks to get their tax refund? rick has the details coming up. [ male announcer ] shaving ca sensitive issue. upgrade to gillette fusion proglide. our micro-thin blades are thinner

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jon: "happening now" america's largest tax preparer under fire after fessing up to a software glitch that could delay refund for thousands of taxpayers. rick has more on that. rick. >> reporter: we are talking about h&r block.

they prepare one out of seven tax returns in this country. they have a pr mess because of this screw up. it's a software thing as you mentioned. clients who claim tax credit for education expenses are going to have to wait up to two months or more for that credit to be factored into their refunds. apparently there is a box that has to be checked yes or no, and in the past you could leave the box blank if your answer was no, but this year the no box has to actually be checked. h and r apparently didn't do that. a lot of people now, mostly students, will have to wait on their refunds until the problem is sorted out. many of those folks rely on those refund to pay their bills. they've gone to h and r's facebook page to say they are never working with the company again. the the irs says it's aware of the problem and its agents are working to process those returns affected by this. about 10% by the way. h&r block apologizes for the inconvenience this is causing and some clients are reporting that their refund are coming in. the deadline for all of us to

file our taxes if you needed a reminder is april 15th. we all have exactly one month and one day to get it done. back to you. jon: a mistake by h&r block but it also goes to show the ridiculous complexity of our tax code. it is tough. >> reporter: it is tough. thank you. jenna: there is a new effort underway to help save government funding for military commissions. hundreds of thousands of soldiers fend on this financial aid to go to school. the air force, army, coast guard, marines, they've all suspended their tuition assistance programs, now the navy is considering doing the same thing. molly henneberg is live in washington with more on this story. how many military members are we talking about as far as this program and how much does it cost? jenna, the tuition assistance programs helps members of the military may for school so they can attend classes part time while still staying on activity duty. in 2012 members of the military took advantage of this program and took about 870,000 courses.

they earned more than 50,000-degrees. and the cost was $568 million. the defense department says those who have been approved for funding this semester will get it, but after that no more, at least not for now, because of sequester cuts to the defense budget. here is more. >> let me be clear. we are here because of sequestration on tuition assistance. and if sequestration were averted we may be facing a different set of choices on these and other programs. these are the unfortunate outcomes, these are the tough choices that are being made. >> the marine corps tells fox education counselors will help marines who r-r depending on this tuition assistance program to try to get funding elsewhere, through grants, scholarships and loans, jenna. jenna: so some members of congress are trying to keep the program going. who are they and what are they trying to do? >> reporter: right. it has bi-partisan support. sue members of congress,

oklahoma republican james inch half and democrat kay hagan have introduced an amendment to require that the defense apartment allocate the funding needed to keep the tuition assistance program running. senator eupl hof inhofe says there are other ways to trim the budget. >> let's cut the green agenda. if you take obama's green agenda out of the defense budget where it should never been before. we shouldn't be building refineries, that should be done in the private sector, that is more money than the entire cost of the tuition assistance. >> reporter: he said it was short cited for the military to suspend the program because it helps military members make, quote smoother transitions to civilian life. jenna. jenna: molly henneberg live in d.c., molly, thank you. jon: roman catholics worldwide reacting today to the church's first latin-american pope. just ahead what the latin american community expects in

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jenna: startling new numbers from the u.s. census bureau showing a record number of counties are disappearing into thin air. in fact more than one in three counties are vanishing in this country. this is the nation encounters its most sluggish growth level since the great depression. young adults are back on the move, they are leaving big cities, heading to the south and the west. we'll get into that in a moment. the midwest and northeast are seeing major population changes. many of their residents leaving after years of staying put. here now is steve moore, senior economics writer for "the "wall street journal"." when we think about counties disappearing it conjures up

feelings of negativity. is it a bad thing that they are disappearing or shows us that something else is happening within the country. >> in the people in the counties they are not too happy to see the populations declining. americans are on the move again. during the recession people kind of stayed where they were, they couldn't find job opportunities. what these new census reports are telling us is that people are packing up those moving vans and they are moving from one place to another in this country, which actually ace good thing. we are a very mobile society. the other big picture here, jenna, is that you're seeing an acceleration of the migration out you of the northeast where you are, and in the midwest where i'm from, and to the southern states and the southwestern states that are really seeing a big increase in their population. jenna: we could use a little bit more room in the streets of new york, although i do understand the population of new york -- >> you look at the bright side, jenna. jenna: when we take a big step back and look at the affects of the great recession do you think we'll look back at this time in

our history and in this economy as really the time that marked the death for lack of a better term of small-town america? is this an increased usual and myization? what is it really telling us as far as that part that was so important of the americas in the past. >> this is not a new trend, actually. i mean you know for the last hundred years people have been leaving the farms, right and going to the cities, and cities have actually made quite a come back. the cities of new york has made a come back in the last 20 years, washington d.c. is booming. my hometown of chicago is doing pretty well. the other big trend though i think is really important to concentrate on, i call it the rise again of the south. the south is really flexing its muscle economically. by the way the southern states like texas, and tennessee, and florida, and alabama are saying, look to businesses and to workers, we are very probusiness, we are going to provide opportunities for jobs, and that's actually where not just the migration of people is

but also the migration of jobs and employers. jenna: let's talk a little bit more about that. do you think that is a sign of a better economy in the south, in the west, or does ideology have something to do witness, identity in those states, people feeling more attracted to those areas for not just what th seeing as far as their business environment but maybe something else. >> i this i there is no question. i've done a study with arthur laffer who has been on your show and what we find is let's take the ten highest tax states and the ten lowest tax states and those low tax states are the ones you just mentioned, states like texas, florida, tennessee, new hampshire. what we found is that every day, jenna a thousand people are leaving the high tax states and moving to the low tax states. there are other factors too. there are factors like right-to-work a lot of businesses are moving to the states that have right-to-work laws. not forced union laws. that i think is causing a kind of competition between the states for who can attract the

most jobs and who can attract the most capitol. jenna: it will be interesting to see the census in another ten years and see what thee fin we find from this. >> i pry tkeubgt you'll find a big increase from not just the population but political power from the states like texas, tennessee, utah and montana who are doing really well right now. we didn't mention the oil boom is that is another thing. north dakota is the fastest growing state today because they have all the oil jobs. jenna: we'll all start working on our texan accents. i have relatives down there. maybe i'll have a little more twapbg than i have. >> you'll be able to find a cab in two minutes in new york. jenna: well put, steve. steve moore with the "wall street journal." thanks. jon: i say colorado. the murder trial that has grabbed the country's attention, see what may be jodi arias' last

showdown with the pros prosecutor. our legal panel is here with a look. when circus stunts go wrong a90-foot fall caught on tape horrifying the spectators. . ..

jenna: "happening now", the latest on the jody arias hurt trial. it will sure look a lot different today when court resumes in the next hour or

so. that is because after eight teen days of giving testimony, the accused the, jodi will be absent from the stand. here is arias in a tense confrontation with prosecutor juan martinez, pressing here as he has done repeatedly throughout the trial to explain what happened the night she killed her ex, travis alexander. >> you indicated in, in response to a juror's question, that the shooting happened and he went down, right? >> yes. >> and that you were able to roll away, correct? or get up? >> yes. >> and you stood up and as you're getting up is when he threated, you right? >> yes. that's when he verbally threatened me. >> at no time in response to that question did you ever indicate that mr. alexander's hands were in contact with any --. jenna: sorry. we're hearing voices and

they're seeing us. and that could be a little confusing. >> we had it all the time because of ifb. viewers at home don't but we hear voices all the time. jenna: we certainly do. adam, today, no jodi. what's's happening? >> reporter: it will be weird for us watching the trial. 18 days, literal weeks of testimony, they have off on fridays and other days off. she has been on the stand for weeks. 18 days of tedious, frustrating, grizzly testimony, she is off the stand it finished yesterday afternoon. very controversy as you might imagine. jurors can ask questions directly. that is onely one of few states that allow that. the questions were very skeptical. prosecutor is making inroads. we'll let you listen to an excertificate where the prosecutor goes after her she found a gun travis supposedly had. >> so you go with these

words, mr. alexander telling you that he believed it was unloaded and you also take your belief that you think it's unloaded based on what he told you, and you take this, run into this closet to get that. what were you going to do with the gun? throw it at him. >> objection, mischaracteristics eyeses testimony and argumentative. >> sustained. >> reporter: once again the prosecutor even though that objection was sustained did make inroads with that comment. jody arias accused of stabbing her boy friend 27 times, slitting him in the throat from here to ear. there is point we're bringing up from behind the scenes she claimed she climbed closet shelves getting for gun, literally years travis never had a gun. now all of sudden he had a gun. that's what she came to shoot them. anybody that climbs closet shelves put on the pegs, if

you put two pounds of weight they flip up and goes crazy. a woman that claims she weighs 120 pound and climbed out on the outside of the shelves and nothing was disturbed. prosecutor made that point. a lot of points made by the prosecutor. a lot of points made by the jury. the defense team will have to rebid the case. they bring up expert witnesses beginning today. once that's done then we have closing arguments which are sure to be interesting. jenna? jenna: well-said, adam, thank you. jon: all right. for more on this trial, let's bring in doug burns, former federal prosecutor and a and dan shore, former federal prosecutor and private investigator. let's begin by playing some of the sound we were not able to hear during the previous segment with adam housley because there were some critical moments in the courtroom as the prosecution tried to drill down on her story and her timeline. listen. >> you indicated to, in response to a juror's question, that the shooting

happened and he went down, right? >> yes. >> and that you were able to roll away, correct? or get up? >> yes. >> and you stood up and as you're getting up is when he threatened you, right? >> yes. that's when he verbally threatened me. >> at no time in response to that question did you ever indicate that mr. alexander's hands were in contact with any knife, did you? >> no, i did not. >> and given the time constraint here and the fact that you didn't know where the knife was, it would have been impossible for you not to have the knife with you when the attack happened, right? >> objection. argumentative. >> overruled. >> i don't understand that question, sorry. >> it would have been impossible to, in response

to the juror's question you gave a scenario. that scenario would have been impossible to happen unless you already had the knife immediately with you, right? >> again, argumentive. >> overruled. >> well, since that is not how it happened it is definitely not impossible. jon: well, that was jody arias answer to the prosecutor's question. doug burns, fras nating -- fascinating final day of testimony. eight teen days in all for her. but fascinating final day. 62 seconds between two of the final shots. apparently when she dropped camera, and the prosecutor made very good use of that. >> it is a fascinating dynamic. you don't often see a defendant on the witness stand for eight teen days. i've been practicing law, trying cases 20 seven years. i can't remember an incident of that. second of all, dan will come in and say look, the prosecutor slaughtered her

and she lied twice and been hearing same refrains, i am going to say, dan, he is playing a little bit of a dangerous game on some level. number one his affect and demeanor or indignation --. jon: he is pretty angry. >> we don't know how that is hitting the jury. he is angry. number two, swinging for fences to insist on first-degree murder. i don't know whether in the charging conference they will talk about a lesser included. jon: that 62-second thing i was talking about earlier, this, i don't know too many murders in which the crime is partially documented, maybe accidentally, on digital photographs but she apparently was taking photos of him in the shower. then she dropped the camera. the camera apparently went off and you know, there is a shot of his body already. that is supposedly, well, what caused him to go after her. so in 62 seconds, the prosecutor said, she takes a shot of him. drops the camera. he gets enraged. she runs down the hall,

grabs the gun off the closet, shoots him and, you know, it all happened in 62 seconds. couldn't have happened or so the prosecutor -- >> it defies common sense. it is important to remember she made many stories always trying to conform with the evidence. first she says she was never there. when it was established she was at the scene, she said two masked intruders came in and killed travis alexander. now when we know she committed killings, she is saying yes i did it but it was in self-defense and i can't remember all of it but still can't explain all the evidence. can't explain the injuries and can't explain the timeline. it defies common sense. i think it is clear she will be convicted but the question is will she also get the death penalty. jon: some of the best questions came from the jurors themselves. take a listen to this one. >> still felt threatened after having shot mr. alexander, why did you use a knife instead of just shooting again? >> well, i know that i dropped the gun when he hit

me and i don't know where the gun went when we fell. it was no longer in my hand. and i don't really remember picking up a knife. i just remember feeling threatened, and he was the immediate threat. jon: she doesn't remember an awful lot. >> she can't remember things supposedly because there is no reasonable explanation for the physical evidence. the injuries, the timeline. there is no plausible scenario that explains it all. so she has to say she doesn't remember. it defies all common sense. >> doug, you seem to be saying if you were prosecuting this case you would offer the jury lesser included offenses. >> i definitely would. jon: if you're afraid only go for first-degree murder conviction she might walk? >> jurors are a lot smatter than you think, if you remember the boston nanny case i mentioned that before, the prosecutors were offered a lesser included jury instruction. they turned it down and found not guilty. jurors are comfortable, they convinced themselves they

charged her with wrong offense. i would say this is highly emotional encounter and highly emotional killing. i think it is a little bit scary to turn around and swing for the fences. jon: all right. we have to say good-bye. we'll continue to watch this case as they get ready to charge the jury. dan, doug, thank you both. >> thank you. >> my pleasure. jenna: well right now a circus performer in russia in serious condition after falling 91 feet and right through the safety net during a high wire performance. just a warning the video is a almost disturbing. we'll show you part of it. you can see the acrobat up at the top of the tent here. and later falling all the way to the ground, all the way to the arena floor. he was rushed to the hospital with severe injuries. the great moscow circus says the 22-year-old was conscious in the ambulance that but is now in inintensive care, jon?

jon: wow! after the white house blames the secret service for canceling tours, well, the move is getting, it may be hurting the obama administration. we'll talk about what the president had to say. plus millions of latin americans celebrating right now. the historic election of pope francis from their country. we'll be live with their reaction in just minutes ♪ [ female announcer ] from more efficient payments. ♪ to more efficient pick-ups. ♪ wiress is limitless. [ female announcer ] from tracking the bus. ♪ to tracking field conditions. ♪ wireless is limitless.

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jenna: want to bring you back live to vatican city. listen in for just a moment here. ♪ .

[chanting] ♪ . jenna: the cardinals that elected this pope all present for this mass, his first mass at the sistine chapel, pope francis. we're getting, still some of these incredible pictures out of vatican city of what has been an incredible couple days. this is just the latest. as you can see towards evening time in rome. the new pope presiding over this mass. we'll keep you posted what is coming out of vatican city. i believe, i believe that is the new pope. if i can make it out correctly. jon: i believe so, yes. jenna: we'll continue to watch. look like they're getting towards the end of the mass. pope francis is already making many barriers, becoming the church's first latin american pontiff, a move sparking excitement from millions of catholics worldwide particularly in the latino community especially in the pope's

homeland of argentina. people there celebrating the news. latin america holding one of the highest concentrations of catholics in the world and here in the united states as well. you have latin worshippers excited. steve harrigan is live in miami with more for us now. steve? >> reporter: jenna, there is actually a section of miami beach around collins avenue and 73rd street known as little argentina. more than 100,000 people live in that area, mostly from argentina. over the past night and day there has been a tremendous amount of excitement in the restaurants and cafes where the good news has spread quickly. >> thisfy is very humble. he really cares about the people and he is not as progressive as some of the other candidates were. this is fascinating. this is great for latin america. >> we're very proud and he seems to be a very hum bell and good man. so he is going to do a good job. >> reporter: hispanics in america make up much of the growth of the catholic church in the u.s. over the past several decades, if

you're younger than 25 years of age and a catholic, odds are greater than 50% you have latino heritage. in argentina the celebrations continued today. last night there was a mass that was really filled to whoever overflowing capacity in the main cathedral in bain knows heiress. they spilled out into the streets with flags, honking horns and celebrating their new pope. >> translator: i'm very excited. i can't put it into words. so happy and very excited for argentina. it is so emotional i tell you. i heard a little while ago the herd bells and car horns, well, i said we have a pope but it never occurred to me it was bergoglio because he wasn't even a candidate. i feel so happy. >> reporter: the enthusiasm not limited to argentina but spread across latin america which contains more than 40% of the world's catholics. jenna, back to you. jenna: steve harrigan live in miami, steve, thank you. jon: there are new concerns about iran's rogue regime

reportedly funneling weapons into syria. why our next guest says iran will support the assad government in a fight to the finish. why turbo? trust us. it's just better to be in front. the sonata turbo. from hyundai.

jenna: well, right now a new report says that iran's regime is stepping up its help to president assad of syria. tehran apparently pouring more weapons into that country and the move is offering syria's isolated government a crucial lifeline since fighting started there two years ago. kt macfarland is a fox news national security analyst and joining us now from d.c. so, kt, why? this is one report but why would iran want to double down at this point in time? >> well here's the thing, jenna. two years ago this started as an anti-government, anti-assad militia army with a rebel army against the government of assad of

syria. the iranians were supporting syria. the russians are supporting syria and various other groups were supporting the militias. what happened flab forward two years, now we have a multiparty, proxy war where every arab country, rich oil country in the middle east has its own militia's fighting the russians are still supporting assad government. the iranians are supporting assad but they have a backup plan too. if it doesn't work out they're supporting hezbollah militia. they will all fight to finish. iran is hoping it can finally break the balance. that it will break the back. the west isn't going to support militia groups and maybe they can make this the final stand and fight to the finish. i don't think it is going to work. i think fighting continues and i think fighting gets much worse. jenna: why, kt? >> the things is, in jenna, a proxy war nobody stops fighting until the sponsor countries decide to stop fighting. in this case iran isn't going to stop. russia is not going to stop the west is not going to

stop. why? because they fear what is happening in syria now spreads. that it foes, as the refugees are going across the borders into lebanon and into jordan, into turkey, maybe even into iraq, with the refugees they're salted with fighters. so the whole region becomes destablizing. the thing that struck me jenna, in the last week or so is what russia's done. they have been against any kind of talks or negotiations from the very beginning but in the last week they talked about maybe they're not wedded to assad. i think that there may be a sliver of a hope that going to russia and saying look, you're embarrassed by this. it has gone on much longer. you will not win in this. what you really got to fear russia, the ethnic minorities you have in your own country, 15% of the ethnic population in russia is muslim, they have to look to that and say we don't want this to spread into our neighborhood. maybe there is some way to let russia's remain in the

region but stop the genocide. jenna: i have only 30 seconds, what does it all mean for us, kt? seeing iran get more involved and what is the big takeaway? >> the big takeaway syria is part of iran's lynchpin program. iran is going for nuclear weapons. it is expanding into the region. threatening the entire persian gulf region where the world's oil comes through. iran can't afford to lose to syria. i think they fight to the finish. the danger is more powerful iran. if they don't win the danger for us that whole region gets into multiparty ethnic civil wars. jenna: two years in and we're still wondering when does it end. kt, thank you. great to see you as always. i'm up next, but now i'm sging the heartburn blues. hold on, prilosec isn't for fast relief. cue up alka-seltzer. it stops heartburn fast. ♪ oh what a relief it is!

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